| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Phaedrus by Plato: Gorgias and some other dialogues he makes reflections and casts sly
imputation upon the higher classes at Athens; so in the Phaedrus, chiefly
in the latter part, he aims his shafts at the rhetoricians. The profession
of rhetoric was the greatest and most popular in Athens, necessary 'to a
man's salvation,' or at any rate to his attainment of wealth or power; but
Plato finds nothing wholesome or genuine in the purpose of it. It is a
veritable 'sham,' having no relation to fact, or to truth of any kind. It
is antipathetic to him not only as a philosopher, but also as a great
writer. He cannot abide the tricks of the rhetoricians, or the pedantries
and mannerisms which they introduce into speech and writing. He sees
clearly how far removed they are from the ways of simplicity and truth, and
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Second Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling: face of the staring red Hindu image. Then he pushed with his
hand in the open air along the road to Khanhiwara, and went back
to his Jungle, and watched the Jungle People drifting through
it. He knew that when the Jungle moves only white men can hope
to turn it aside.
There was no need to ask his meaning. The wild gourd would grow
where they had worshipped their God, and the sooner they saved
themselves the better.
But it is hard to tear a village from its moorings. They stayed
on as long as any summer food was left to them, and they tried
to gather nuts in the Jungle, but shadows with glaring eyes
The Second Jungle Book |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Camille by Alexandre Dumas: me but with that rich fool, when I thought of what would follow
their return, the blood rose to my face, and I felt the need of
doing something to trouble their relations.
After the contredanse I went up to the mistress of the house, who
displayed for the benefit of her guests a dazzling bosom and
magnificent shoulders. She was beautiful, and, from the point of
view of figure, more beautiful than Marguerite. I realized this
fact still more clearly from certain glances which Marguerite
bestowed upon her while I was talking with her. The man who was
the lover of such a woman might well be as proud as M. de N., and
she was beautiful enough to inspire a passion not less great than
Camille |
